violent pictures will always be with us. people like to see westerns like they like to see a ballet. they like to see a thing they're familiar with. see it done in the way that they anticipate it, but meaningfully. it's a disciplined form. (gunfire) (climactic music playing) to me, the area of the west that's really interesting is when the west begins to turn sour. and the frontier, the space starts to run out. and ford was right on the cusp of that. and towards the end of his life his questions became harder, about the indians and the implicit racism and the brutality of the west. (narrator) "the searchers" is a tale of a man's quest for his niece, who has been kidnapped by indians, that explores obsession and racial hatred. there's no more time for praying, amen. brad, martin. amen. (music playing) (thomas schatz) i think one of the things that makes "the searchers" such a powerful film is the john wayne figure.